TUTORIAL CHAPTER 2

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LONG ESSAY

1. Three Porter Generic Strategies are cost leadership, differentiation and focused strategy.

Cost leadership

-         Becoming a low-cost producer in the industry allows the company to lower prices to customers. Competitors with higher costs cannot afford to compete with the low-cost leader on price. For example, company A sold its goods RM10 but company B sold its goods more cheaper on the same goods. This will make customer more prefer to buy goods from company B.

Differentiation

-         Create competitive advantage by distinguish their products on one or more features important to their customers. Unique features or benefits may justify price differences and stimulate demand. For example, i-care by proton.

  Focused strategy

-         Target to a niche market. Concentrates on either cost leadership or differentiation. Focused of what we really good at it. For example, if we good in making dress we can making income by do so.

2. Five forces in Porter’s Five Forces are buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute products and services, threat of new entrants and rivalry among existence competitors.

Buyer power

-         It will be high when buyers have many choices of whom to buy. It becomes low when their choices are few. To reduce buyer power, an organization must take it more attractive to buy from the company not from the competitors.

Supplier power

-         It will be high when buyers have few choices of whom to buy from. It becomes low when their choices are many. For example, if the supplier do not have the goods we can exchange to another supplier or if the prices is expensive we can transfer to another supplier that is more cheaper.

Threat of substitute products and services 

-         It will be high when there are many alternatives to a product or service. It becomes low when there are few alternative from which to choose. Ideally, an organization would like to be on a market in which there are few substitutes of their product or services.

Threat of new entrants

-         It will high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market. It becomes low when there are significant entry barriers to entering a market. Entry barriers is a product or service feature that customers have come to expect from organizations and must be offered by entering organization to compete and survive.

Rivalry among existence competitors

-         It will high when competition is fierce in a market. It becomes low when competition is more complacent. For example, Wal-mart and its supplier using IT-enabled system for communication and track product at aisles by effective tagging system.

3. Information technology can develop a competitive advantage for each force in Five Forces Model.

Buyer power

-         Customer can grow large and powerful as a result of their market share. Many choices of whom to buy from. Low when comes to limited items. For example, used loyalty programs such as jusco cards, tesco card to being a members to get the discount.

Supplier power

-         Supplier power is the converse of buyer power. Supplier – organization : organizations want supplier power to be low here. Organization – customer : organizations want supplier power to be high here.

Threat of substitute products and services

-         To the extent that customers can use different products to fulfill the same need, the threat of substitutes exists. For example, electronic product that have same function but different brands. Switching costs is the costs that can make customer reluctant to switch to another product or service.

Threat of new entrants

-         Many threats come from companies that do not yet exist or have a presence in a given industry or market. The threat of new entrants forces top management to monitor the trends, especially in technology, that might give rise to new competitors. For example, new bank such as online paying bills.

Rivalry among existence competitors

-         Existing competitors are not much of the threat : typically each firm has found its niche. However, changes in management, ownership can give rise to serious threats to long term survival from existing firms. For example, the airlines operating in bankruptcy, who do not pay on the debts while slashing fares against those healthy airlines who do pay on debt.

CHAPTER 2: IDENTIFYING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

1. What is competitive advantage ?
A product or service than an organization's customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor.
Unfortunately, CA is temporary because competitors keep duplicate the strategy.
Then, the company should start the new competitive advantage.

2. List and explain each of the five forces in Porter's Five Forces Model.
Buyer power - High when buyers have many choices of whom to buy. - Low when their choices is few. - To reduce buyer power and create competitive advantage, an organization must make it more attractive to buy from the company not from the competitors.
Bargaining Power of Customers - Customers can grow large and powerful as a result of their market share. - Many choices of whom to buy from. - Low when comes to limited items. (Eg: Used loyalty programs such as Jusco card, Tesco card, being a members to get the discount)
Supplier power - High when buyers have few choices of whom to buy from. - Low when their choices are many. - Best practise of IT to create CA. - (Eg: B2B marketplace private exchage allow a single buyer to posts it needs and then open the bidding to any supplier who would care to bid. Reverse auction is an auction format in which increasingly lower bids.
Supplier power is the converse of buyer power. (Organizations want supplier power to be low between suppliers and organization)(Organizations want supplier power to be high between organization and customers).
Threat of Substitute products and services - High when there are many alternatives  to a product or service. - Low when there are few alternatives from which to choose. - Ideally, an organization would like to be on a market in which there are few substitutes of their product or services.
To the extent that customers can use different products to fulfill the same need, the threat of substitutes exists. (Eg: electronic product same function different brands).
Switching cost - costs can make customer reluctant to switch to another product or service.
Threat of new entrants - High when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market. - Low when there are significant entry barriers to entering a market. - Entry barriers is a product or services feature that customers have come to expect from organizations and must be offered by entering organization to compete and survive.
Many threats come from companies that do not yet exist or have a presence in a given industry or market. - The threat of new entrants forces top management to monitor the trends, especially in technology, that might give rise to new competitors. (Eg; New bank- online paying bills, account monitoring).
Rivalry among existence competitors - High when competitors is fierce in a market. - Low when competitors is more complacent.
Existing competitors are not much of the threat: typically each firm has found its "niche". - However, changes in management, ownership, or 'the rules of the game' can give rise to serious threats to long term survival from existing firms.

3. Compare Porter's three generic strategies.

Cost Leadership - Becoming a low-cost producer in the industry allows the company to lower prices to customer. - Competitors with higher costs cannot afford to compete with the low-cost leader on price.
Differentiate - Create CA by distinguishing their products on one or more features important to their customers. - Unique features or benefits may justify price differences and/or stimulate demand. (Eg: I-care by Proton).
Focused Strategy - Target to niche market. - Concentrates on either cost leadership or differentiation.

4. Describe the relationship between business processes and value chain.

Supply chain - a chain or series of processes that adds value to product and service for customer. - Add value to its products and services that support a profit margin for the firm.

Me and my friend, Mona.

colleagues,classmates

we are doing a small business,selling chiffon shawl. Maybe it gotta be bigger one day inshaAllah. PERHAPS :-)

Hope u guys will support our business. Please like our page on facebook "Aurora Love Hijabista".

Chapter 1 – Business Driven Technology

Chapter 1 – Business Driven Technology

Why we need to study Information Technology (IT)?

IT is everywhere in business. Understanding IT provides great insight to anyone learning about business.

Information Technology’s Impact on Business Operations

•       Organization typically operate by functional areas or functional          silos
•        Functional areas are interdepends

Information Technology Basics

•         Information technology (IT) – A field concerned with the use of        technology in managing and processing information. IT is an            important enabler of business success and innovation
•         Management information system (MIS) – A general name for the      business function and academic discipline covering the application        of people, technologies and procedures to solve business problems.      MIS is a business function, similar to Accounting, Finance,              Operations and Human Resources.

-    When beginning to learn about information technology it is important to understand

·         Data, information and business intelligence

·         IT resources

·         IT cultures

-    Data, information and business intelligence

·         Data is a raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event

·         Information is a data converted into a meaningful and useful context.

·         Business intelligence is an applications and technologies that are used to support decision making efforts.

-   IT Resources

·         People use

·         Information technology to work with

·         Information

-    IT Cultures

·         Organizational information cultures include;

• Information-Functional Culture – Employees use information as a means of exercising influence or power over others. For example, a manager in sales refuses to share information with marketing. This causes marketing to need the sales manager’s input each time a new sales manager’s input each time a new sales strategy is developed.
• Information-Inquiring Culture – Employees across departments search for information to better understand the future and align themselves with current trends and new directions.
• Information-Discovery Culture – Employees across departments are open to new insight about crisis and radical changes and seek ways to create competitive advantages.
• Information-Sharing Culture – Employees across departments trust each other to use information (especially about problems and failures) to improve performance.

Questions?

1.       Describe the information age and the differences among data, information, business intelligence, and knowledge

2.       Identify the different departments in a company and why they must work together to achieve success

3.       Explain systems thinking and how management information systems enable business communications

Introduction for MGT300

This course discusses the impotance of IT in today’s e-business enterprises,how IT plays a major role in decision-making and how it increase efficiency as well as effectiveness in all business processes.

This subject will enable students to:

•    Understand how information technology is used and managed in e-business   enterprise.
•    Use IT to master their jobs to help ensure the success of their organization.
•     Focus on both learning and applying the concepts of IT in facilitating business processes.
•     Conduct electronic commerce , improve  decision-making and gain competitive advantage.

Bissmillahirrahmanirrahim

Alhamdulillah. Thanks to Allah SWT, who with His willing have given me the opportunity to get many useful knowledges from learning MGT300 subject or also can be called as Information Technology in Management subject. 

I would like to express my deepest thanks to, Madam Intan Liyana, my course lecturer at UiTM Alor Gajah who had guided me a lot. She had given valuable information and guidance for her students’ understanding. I just love the way she is teaching. She is teaching in an exciting and friendly way. Sometimes she came out with jokes. I realized i don't just need to focus clearly while learning, but to feel enjoy too ! Hope that me and my friends can score A for this subject. AMINN.. InshaAllah we will make it true !